There is a void at shooting guard once again for the Rutgers men’s basketball program.

Tyree Graham, the junior college transfer who was brought in to hold down the position in the wake of Mike Rosario’s sudden departure last spring, has suffered a serious knee injury that may sideline him for the 2010-11 season.

In a bizarre twist, the 6-foot-1 junior tweeted the news himself late last week, writing, “just found out I have had a torn ACL.” The tweet was quickly taken down and then Graham underwent an examination on Monday. According to Graham’s tweet, he sustained the injury in January and played on it unknowingly for eight months.

In a press release this afternoon, Rutgers confirmed that Graham “will undergo surgery in his left knee,” noting that the injury “was discovered during Graham’s physical examination process upon his arrival at Rutgers last week.”

Graham had figured to see major minutes in a depleted backcourt this winter. He came to Piscataway with major college experience after logging half a season at Texas Tech, averaging 3.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists over 13 games before withdrawing due to a family matter. Last winter he averaged 17 points per game at Supply Brunswick Community College in his home state of North Carolina.

He had originally committed to Alabama-Birmingham last spring, but switched gears after that school shuffled its coaching staff, choosing Rutgers in early June as new coach Mike Rice’s second commitment.

Losing Graham, who would be eligible for a medical redshirt, leaves Rutgers dangerously thin in the backcourt. Incoming freshman Austin Carroll is now the only true shooting guard on the roster. Senior Mike Coburn, who has vacillated between point and shooting guard over the past few years, and freshman Mike Poole, who at 6-foot-6 played more of the wing at St. Benedict’s Prep, and, will likely be called upon to eat minutes at that spot. Dane Miller, who excelled on the wing as a freshman last year, might also see time there if Rice employs a big lineup.

Aside from Coburn and Carroll, the only other pure guard Rutgers has on scholarship is senior point James Beatty. Overall Rutgers is down to nine scholarship players.

“The health of our players is always our primary concern,” Rice said in a statement. “Tyree will remain very much involved in team activities and we look forward to his complete recovery.”

HOOPS HAVEN SAYS: Big blow for Rutgers, which brought in Graham as a stopgap and was counting on his relative experience to hold the fort until reinforcements from the Class of 2011 arrived. Now Rice will have to play Beatty and Coburn together for long stretches. If Graham redshirts as expected it will also take a scholarship away from the 2012 class.

HH ALSO SAYS: This episode likely spells the end of tweeting by the Scarlet Knights. As interesting as it is for fans (and media members) to get an unvarnished peek into players’ thoughts, you just can’t run a major college basketball program and have players tweeting willy-nilly about sensitive matters like injuries. Obviously Rice is not happy with the way this was handled. Expect the coach to put a policy in place soon, if he hasn’t already.